Early voting for Arkansas began Oct. 19 and ends Nov. 2.
Bella Vista offers two sites for early voting, open Monday through Friday:
New Life Christian Church, 103 Riordan Road
8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Oct. 19-23 and Oct. 26-30
St. Bernard's Catholic Church, Parish Hall, 1 St. Bernard Lane
8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Oct. 19-23 and Oct. 26-30
You can find other early voting sites at https://vote.bentoncountyar.gov/elections/.
What to bring
You need to show ID to vote in Arkansas. Acceptable forms of ID include: an Arkansas driver's license; an Arkansas photo identification card; a concealed handgun carry license; a United States passport; an employee badge or identification document issued by an accredited post-secondary education institution in the State of Arkansas; a United States military identification document; a public assistance identification card if the card shows a photograph of the person to whom the document or identification card was issued; a voter verification card.
If you're voting for the first time in Arkansas, registered to vote by mail, and did not submit a copy of your ID when you registered, you will need to show ID to vote. Acceptable forms include a driver's license or non-driver's license ID; or a current utility bill, bank statement, government check, paycheck, or another government document with your name and address.
Voters without ID: If you are unable to provide ID, you will be able to vote on a provisional ballot.
Sample Ballot
You can view a sample ballot at https://www.voterview.ar-nova.org/voterview.
Here you can see those running for Bella Vista's three city council member positions, as well as the Issue 1 road tax extension, which impacts funding the city gets to maintain streets.
Election Day, Nov. 3, voting sites in Bella Vista:
New Life Christian Church, 103 Riordan Road
St. Bernard's Catholic Church, Parish Hall, 1 St. Bernard Lane
Highlands United Methodist Church, 371 Glasgow Road
Bella Vista Church of Christ, 989 NW McNelly Road (technically Bentonville)
Please note due to covid-19, the Bella Vista Fire Station No. 1 is NOT a voting location for this year's election. Other Benton county locations are found at https://vote.bentoncountyar.gov/elections/.
What voters can expect when they walk in to vote in person
1. A poll worker will tell a voter when to go to the check-in station and hand that person a blank ballot and a clean stylus. The voter will go to check-in and place the ballot in a printer.
2. Voters will be asked to show an approved photo ID and state their name, address and date of birth. Election officials will verify the information with the voter's registration on a computer tablet. The voter will sign the tablet with the stylus.
3. The printer will then print the precinct information on the ballot. The voter will remove the ballot from the printer. The voter will then take the ballot and stylus and wait for the next available voting machine.
4. Voter will place their vote as done in previous elections (with the stylus provided if they prefer) and discard the stylus upon leaving the center.
According to Channing Barker, Benton County Communications Director, the election commission has taken grand steps to keep the public and poll workers well during this time.
• Facilities management team will use its Clorox360 machine to sanitize voting sites.
• Social distancing will be observed.
• Voting machines will be cleaned between each use.
• Hand sanitizers are available at voting locations.
• There are 150 acrylic shields for early voting to place between voters and poll workers at the check-in station.
• Each voter will be given a clean stylus to sign in and vote with. ID's will be placed on a surface that is sanitized between each use and not handled by the election official.
• Poll workers have gone through five-hour classes to prep for this time. Masks will be provided to poll workers if they so choose to wear them.